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Kite Flooring

@kiteflooring

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Make the complex, time-consuming process of choosing a floor painless. Visit us in Shoreditch.
UK Suppliers of @belgiqa flooring to retail and trade.

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Can a renovation mistake launch a business?

The second picture is the floor I chose for my renovation project 8 years ago. Short, stubby, shiny laminate. It was the builders choice. And it didn’t work.

Like most people, I thought all floors were equal - vinyl was plastic, wood was high maintenance, laminate was cheap.

Look at the Louvre. 2 million visitors a year and their oak floors look amazing. If a wood floor can handle that, it can probably handle your kitchen.

So what’s the difference between cheaper floors, and the floors in the louvre? Well, the big difference is the finish quality.

A well finished floor lasts decades. A poor on one an afternoon.

So can a renovation mistake launch a business?

Well, the floor I chose is the reason I started Kite. So you don’t make the same mistake.

And it also means I got a good deal on replacing it.

#interiordesign #woodflooring #parquet #hackney #stokenewington taken in Stoke Newington by @kiteflooring

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a month ago

“Is your flooring compatible with underfloor heating?” is one of the most common questions we are asked at Kite. And almost always, the answer is “yes”.

Most engineered wood floors are compatible with some form of underfloor heating, but the tricky thing is that not all floors are compatible with every system. So the correct question should really be -

“Is the floor I want, compatible with the system I want?”

And the answer to that question is not always “yes”.

At Kite, we talk a lot about fitting strategy (there’s more than one way to fit a floor…), but with heating systems it’s even more important to plan things out from the beginning. Our nightmare scenario is when a customer orders a non-refundable, bespoke floor, and then we discover it’s not compatible with the underfloor heating system they have fitted!

To help you navigate yet another curve ball, we’ve written a blog (link in bio). Key points include-

1. Water based or electric. Know what floors you can fit on each system.

2. Overfloor systems. These can be unstable, which can create challenges with glue-down floors like Herringbone.

3. Single heat source. The entire wood floor must have the heating system underneath, otherwise you may have expansion/contraction problems.

4. Most systems need to be “commissioned”. You can’t just crank them on.

5. Speak to technical teams. They will almost always give great advice and prevent expensive mistakes.

We realise that buying a floor can sometimes feel like going back to school. But, whether you buy a floor through us or somebody else, these tips will make you very grateful you’ve done your homework.

Happy Project planning!
(Link in bio)

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#underfloorheatinginstallation #underfloorheating #designandbuild #refurbishment #buildingdesign #herringbone #woodflooringexpert #woodflooringdesign #floorinstallation taken in K&L Design Studio by @kiteflooring

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3 years ago

Instagram is great. We love it. The reason? Because through images and text you can answer the most important questions in flooring and they all start with a “Why”? Why should you have a Herringbone floor? Why should you pay for a professional fitter? Why do oils matter? Most of us have heard of the “power of Why…” and Instagram nails it.

But where Instagram is not so good is dealing with “How”, and for flooring that’s just as important.

To help you get the perfect floor, we’ve written a guide on “How to fit Herringbone” (link in bio…). If you understand the process you can make an informed decision on the best fitting strategy with your contractor. This is especially important in many of the houses we work with in Hackney, with their uneven subfloors.

Key points are -

-We glue our Herringbones down, to either a ply base or a quick drying levelling compound.

-Subfloor is key. Most of the houses in Hackney require a combination of ply and levelling compound on the floorboards. Occasionally you get lucky and no levelling is required, but it’s rare.

-This is a glue down floor, so make sure you check moisture levels with a professional moisture reader prior to fitting (especially with concrete screed).

For any advice just get in touch. Happy fitting!
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#herringbonefloor #livingroom #livingroomdesign #flooringexperts #stokenewington #londonfields #walthamstow #clapton #islington taken in Hackney Road by @kiteflooring

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4 years ago

The thick floor myth.

“I want the 6mm top layer, so it lasts.”

We hear this a lot. And we get it: thicker sounds better. But here’s what the numbers actually say.

The German parquet industry expects a floor to be sanded twice in 50 years, at 0.7mm a time (on average). That’s 1.4mm. On a 4mm oak top layer, you’ve still got 2.6mm you’ll never touch.

Glued to a sound subfloor, a 15mm board isn’t going anywhere. Over underfloor heating, extra thickness just slows the heat down. And if you’ve chosen a floor for its texture and oil, you’re never going to sand it off anyway.

So where should the money go? Into the oils that stop damage happening in the first place.

The Kite view: 3.5–4mm oak top layer, 14–15mm total, and the best oil you can afford.

Want to see (and feel) the difference? Pop into the showroom at 5 Hackney Road, Shoreditch.

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#woodflooring #engineeredwood #oakflooring #londoninteriors #homerenovation taken in Hackney Road by @kiteflooring

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7 days ago

200 year old floors. But not.

Today we’re looking at some reclaimed effect floors. Our most special floor has always been a floor called the Iris. This is made from reclaimed train wagons that are spliced onto an engineered base. Everybody loves this floor, but the challenge has always been cost and availability. This is why we’ve developed a factory made finish, that’s as close as possible, but cheaper and on a quicker lead time. We think this is going to be a very unique floor.

To discuss this floor, or any of our other unique finishes, book a consultation (link in the bio)

#woodflooring #reclaimedflooring #kitchendesign #stokenewington #islington taken in Hackney Road by @kiteflooring

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10 days ago

Construction is hard, and material delays are expensive. So ask your builder when they need the floor and they’ll usually build in a buffer of a week or two.

But we checked our last 933 deliveries, and 80% weren’t needed on the original date. That extra time is the difference between the floor you actually want and the one that happens to be in stock.

Swipe through for the numbers.

And a special thank you to our amazing delivery drivers.

#woodflooring #herringbone #renovation #londonhomes #homerenovation interiordesign taken in London, United Kingdom by @kiteflooring

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14 days ago

This Summer we renovated @plates_london restaurant in Shoreditch. Plates are the UK’s only vegan Michelin-starred restaurant.

We transformed a bumpy, impractical tiled floor, into a smoked, textured engineered plank. Michelin-starred food deserves a beautiful floor.

#shoreditch #woodfloor #parquetflooring #renovation #stokenewington taken in Shoreditch by @kiteflooring

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21 days ago

Nobody plans the stairs. They plan the floor, then a fortnight before the fitters arrive someone asks “what are we doing with the stairs?”

Usually the answer is a compromise. Carpet. A runner. Paint. Or cladding done by someone else, from something else, that never quite matches.

StairFlow is our answer. Tread, riser and nosing that can be joined with the smallest micro-bevel, cut from the same boards as your floor. Same colour, same finish, no joins to see or feel.

It’s not the cheapest option. From £180 a step, about £2k for a typical 12-step flight. But it’s the last time you’ll do your stairs, and stairs get walked on more than any floor in the house.

Got a staircase you’re not sure about? Send us a photo, or book 30 minutes at the showroom on Hackney Road. We’ll tell you straight what’s worth doing, even if the answer is “keep the carpet”. Link in bio.

#StairFlow #WoodFlooring #StairCladding #OakStairs #LondonRenovation taken in Shoreditch, Central London. by @kiteflooring

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a month ago

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a month ago

Wood flooring strategies for kitchens. How to choose a floor without compromising.

The kitchen is the room that gets the biggest battering, but you don’t need to compromise on your flooring, even if you’re a hectic household.

At Kite, all our oiled floors are good quality. But they can be made even stronger, by applying an additional coat of hardwax oil. This needs to be managed (and there are a few tips we have to make sure it a success), but we’ve used it in restaurants, and it makes the floors super strong, and keeps the finish matt.

Alternatively, look at a high strength, matt lacquer. It’s now super hard to tell the difference between a good quality lacquer and an oil. Cheap lacquers are shiny. Our Newington plus range is a good place to start for this.

Finally, look a high quality laminate. These are now super matt, have a realistic grain structures, no repeating patterns and are effectively waterproof (as the core is made with High Density Fiberboard). They are just as strong as vinyl, but half the price.

So, if you’re struggling to tell the difference between your LVT and SPC, your Hardwax or your UV, your DPM or your OSB, book a consultation with us.

We’ll save you time and money. Whether you buy a floor through us or somebody else.

#woodflooring #kitchen #kitchendesign #herringbonefloor #stokenewington taken in Stoke Newington by @kiteflooring

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a month ago

Herringbone or plank? After 30 seconds we’ll tell you which one you’re getting.

At Kite, we’ve carried out 2,000 consultations and we’re rarely wrong on floor shape. Just not for the reason you’d expect.

You’ve read the blogs. Asked a designer. Probably asked AI. And they’ll all point you at similar things such as room size, ceiling height, how much light you get. One of them always says herringbone will go out of fashion.

The Romans were laying herringbone floors 2,000 years ago, so the pattern isn’t going to date.

Here’s what we’ve actually learned from doing this: herringbone looks good in nearly any room. So the room isn’t what decides it.

People have to really want it.

People who end up with herringbone dream about it. They scroll Instagram liking other people’s posts. There’s a Pinterest board. They whisper “herringbone, herringbone” to their partner before they go to sleep.

They have to want it that much because herringbone is around 30% more on a supply-and-fit basis. If you only sort-of want it, Sunday night comes, you run the numbers, and you switch to plank.

And that’s completely fine. Plank is a brilliant floor. Most of the floors we fit are plank. It’s awesome.

So the 30-second version is, if you’ve been quietly obsessed with herringbone for two years, get herringbone. If you’re weighing it up on a spreadsheet, you’ve already answered the question.

#woodflooring #herringboneflooring #stokenewington #islington #highbury taken in Hackney Road by @kiteflooring

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a month ago

Here are five things that make Herringbone look beautiful you didn’t realise.

1. Matt finish. Cheap oils or lacquers have an unattractive shine to them. The very worst lacquers glisten in the grooves when you show a light on them.

2. Clean grade. These floors have less knots and colour variation. It helps the pattern pop.

3. Slight texture. Look for floors that are slightly brushed. Not only does this feel nicer under foot, the light hits the texture and it showcases the pattern.

4. Micro Bevel. Look for a bevel around 1mm. Large bevel bevels look cheap.

5. The right sizing. Small enough to show the pattern, big enough to not be too busy.

We launched Kite to help you choose the right floor.

This is our Lewis Large Herringbone.

#herringbonefloor #parquetflooring #interiordesign #stokenewington #clapton taken in Stoke Newington by @kiteflooring

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a month ago